


Forty Miles of Bad Road

by Butterfly



Series: Scenes from a Resurrection Story [12]
Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Background Quentin Coldwater/Eliot Waugh, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 13:29:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18740011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Butterfly/pseuds/Butterfly
Summary: Kady counts cards.





	Forty Miles of Bad Road

**Author's Note:**

> Content notes: brief references to depression and suicidal thoughts.

Kady set the ace of spades on the counter, did the sending tuts, then pressed play on her phone's timer, keeping an eye on it as she talked.

“Hey. Just thought I'd catch you up on my research. Those books Coldwater told me about – I've been reading through them and I'm pretty sure he's right. Zelda violated a mandatory subclause in your contract when she let you die. But contractual magic is... kinda a bitch to unravel, so it's gonna take me more time before I can actually get anything useful ready. I've got some hedges at work on it, so not as long as it would take me solo but-” She took in a deep breath, let it out again. “ _Look_. I just want you to know that- I do love you, still, but you know I would do this even if I didn't, right? Because it sucks that you died when you shouldn't have, just like it did with Coldwater. Because we're a family and- and one of us being gone leaves a fucking hole. But- but if you don't want me to push this, I'll leave it alone. Just let me know.”

She sat there for a moment, waiting, holding her breath.

“ _Kady_.” It was just that, for so long that she wondered if that was all she was going to get, then Penny finally continued, “Yeah, between you and me? I'm damn glad Coldwater was so fucking nosy. When we were on the run from security, we saw a lot of screwed up bullshit down here, stuff that goes way beyond my contract. Anyway, I'm still on the run, so that's a thing that's happening. I've met a couple of other, ah, employees down here that I think I can trust, but- yeah. Wouldn't mind an escape if you're cooking one up.”

She let out a long sigh of relief, then got up off her ass and called Pete. She had work to do.

 

* * *

  

Kady hadn't been looking forward to going up to Eliot's room, because every time she went there, Quentin always seemed so- small, so it was a bit of a relief to find him hanging out on the couches in the main room and, miraculously, missing both of his minders.

“Hey, Coldwater, remember anything new about downstairs?” She sprawled herself out on an empty chair. “You said you were starting to get flashes, right?”

“Nothing about Penny's contract,” Quentin said. “Just- ugh. Just frustrating bullshit, honestly.” He waved his hand around.

“Are you- shit, what's that weird thing you and Eliot do? Uh. What color are you today?”

“Actually, uh.” He screwed up his eyes and then said, sounding relieved, “Green right now.”

“And green means... what exactly?”

“Uh. Growth. Spring. Eagerness? It's a good color.”

“Well. Then stay green, I guess,” she said. “Does your shrink like the whole color thing?”

“She does. She wants me to write it all out, so that she can have a reference chart,” Quentin said, and his eyes were getting that nerdy-excited twinkle in them, so she had to talk fast if she was gonna deflect it.

“Hey. When you wanted to die-” Julia would hit her for being so blunt, but there was no point in mincing words. “-it made sense in your head at the time, but you realized it was, like, melodramatic bullshit later on, right?”

“That is... one way to put it,” he said, but he didn't look offended. “Why?”

She glanced around, made sure they were still alone. “Uh... back when all that was going down, I'd been in the Poison Room and I found out- that's when I found out about Zelda screwing Penny over. And I- there was a moment there. Longer than a moment. When I just considered the idea of maybe not taking the cure. So then I'd see Penny again.”

“And now you realize that was melodramatic bullshit?”

“Yeah, mostly,” she said. “But I thought- I don't know. If this doctor is good for you... maybe it wouldn't be terrible to talk to someone about all the crap in my life.”

Quentin gave her a tiny smile and he tugged out his phone and- and her phone buzzed with a text. “I don't know if you'll like her, but it's worth a try.”

She nodded and then her eyes narrowed.

“Are you wearing a vest?”

“Um.” He blushed. “It's- uh. It's Eliot's.”

“Well, no fucking _duh_. That part's obvious. Are you- are you gonna be one of those sappy couples that trades clothes? Because that shit is gross.”

“We aren't- we aren't a-” His flush deepened. “Eliot is just- just helping out. Roxann suggested it. That maybe if I had- had something that reminded me of Eliot, it would be easier to believe he was really still back, even when he's not around.”

“I guess that's not completely stupid,” Kady said. “ _If_ it works.”

“I hope it does,” Quentin said, his face falling again. He sighed and then asked, “Is there anything else I can do to help you save Penny? Read a book or- anything. I feel- I feel pretty useless these days.”

“You already did plenty of heavy lifting on this one already,” she said, aiming for gentle but – by the expression on his face – landing on patronizing. “It's all just a lot of sifting through bullshit right now. Trust me, if I need you to do something, I will shove it in your face and tell you to hop to it, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” He reached up and rubbed his wrist across the brocade of the vest, his expression getting a little distant. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Anyway, you hear back from Margo recently? Is Fillory still a fucking disaster?”

He blinked, refocused on her, and his arm dropped back down to his lap. “Ugh, no. She's trying to get in with this underground movement that's against the Dark King, but I guess it's been complicated because they're mostly talking animals and she's a human claiming to be an exiled king from the past so- they aren't really on board with her yet. She's calling them the Animorphs but I am- am pretty sure that's not what they call themselves.”

And he talked and talked and _talked_ , but he smiled from time to time, and he didn't reach for the vest again until the door opened and Eliot breezed back in, instantly stealing his attention away.

So. Successful enough conversation, when it came to Quentin.

 

* * *

 

“It continues to move forward at the pace of a fucking snail,” Kady said, her finger tapping next to the five of diamonds. “I have to write up this- this fucking appeal and document everything in so- _fucking_ -much detail and send it to the Underworld Library in triplicate so. Yeah. Not exactly my thing, but I'm making it work. I also- uh. Coldwater has been seeing a shrink and I checked her out and she's kinda cool so- anyway, don't make fun of me for it, okay? It turns out that therapy isn't complete bullshit after all. I have a lot of- I guess a lot of crappy things in my head from my mom and my shit-ass time as Marina's lapdog, and she's helping me figure it out. We talked about you a little, but not- I'm not sharing all the worst shit yet or crying on her couch like Coldwater probably does. But- yeah. I don't know. I think it might be helping.”

Her finger kept tap-tap-tapping away.

“Hey, Kady, it's always good to hear your voice,” Penny said. “As someone who has spent way too much time in other people's heads, not sure if therapy would help me any, but I'm really fucking glad if it's helping you. Things down here are- still dicey, but I did meet a big ol' friendly dog and he helped me fight off a roving band of- bandits? I guess, still not sure what they were, honestly. So that's going well. I'll see if I can- hey, boy. Can you bark into the card? Or growl or- I don't know. Do some dog shit.” She didn't hear any barking or growling, but there was a noisy panting sound that made her laugh. “Ugh, I give up. Anyway, I'm calling him Ol' Scratch, because he- well, it's the Underworld and he also scratches himself a lot. Any chance you can put a request in that appeal of yours for me to keep him? I mean. He's ugly as fuck, but he's a sweetheart. And I-”

She was still smiling when the card faded out.

 

* * *

 

“So, you fucked up,” Kady said, staring Zelda down. “And now you're gonna make it right.”

“I'm _hardly_ in a position to storm the Underworld branch of the Library-”

“Don't worry, I'm not asking you to mess up your nails,” Kady said. “You just have do some writing. I'm getting the appeal against Penny's contract into shape and it's looking good, but I need an addendum from the person who did the fuck up. And that's you. So. You can agree to do it now or I can ask the boss you appointed to _order_ you to do it.”

“You don't need to bother Ms. Quinn,” Zelda said, with a sigh. “She has enough on her plate. I'll write something out for you. Acknowledge my responsibility in the matter.”

“Is- is everything going okay with Miss Priss?” Kady asked, curious despite herself. “Is she a good boss?”

Zelda hesitated. “Well. I suggested her for the position because I had great confidence in her logical thinking and practicality. And she is certainly- being quite practical. In some respects.”

“Is she here now?”

“She is... doing field work,” Zelda said. “She does quite a lot of field work.”

“And that's a practical thing for the Head of the Neitherlands Library to be doing?”

“She says that the only way for her to trust us is if she sees us 'in action'. I suppose that's true. Oh, she won't make the same mistakes as Everett, I know that much.”

“But maybe she'll make new ones?”

“Let's hope not,” Zelda said cheerily, with that careful, practiced smile of hers. Kady started to turn away, but then she heard Zelda sigh, a little wearily, and once Kady was looking her way again, she started talking and signing at the same time, but the words didn't match. Kady blinked and focused on Zelda's hands, letting the words shift to the background. “Ms. Quinn is quite young, but I have complete faith in her abilities.”

“ _Wait,”_ she signed. “ _I should- it might not be my place to share this information, but I suspect that Ms. Quinn has not told any of you yet and... you really should know. All of you should.”_

Kady ran her eyes up and down Zelda – there was an extra tension there now, in her posture, in her always-uplifted hands, in her tight smile. She said, “I've had a few issues with Alice in the past myself. Honestly, I'd rather talk about how things are going with Harriet,” and signed, _“Okay, I'm listening.”_

“Oh, I do appreciate you asking! We had lunch the other day and we talked about the direction she thought the Library should be moving in- I think I'll set up a meeting with her and Ms. Quinn soon,” Zelda's mouth said, while her hands said, _“Irene McAllister visited the Library a few days ago. She noticed, of course, that the siphon was released and the Library no longer has the ability to put a limit to the ambient magic. She came to check in and was quite dismayed to discover the change in leadership. She and Ms. Quinn had- very loud words on the subject.”_

“ _Fuck. I'm guessing she still wants us all dead.”_ Kady reached up and tugged at her earring as she thought it over. “That seems like a good idea. I bet those two would make quite the dynamic duo.” She brought her hand back down and continued, _“Okay, so, what can she actually do without the Library backing her up?”_

“It's difficult to say.” Zelda plucked a card out of her pocket and held it out to Kady. “My daughter and Ms. Quinn are both quite strong-willed.” After Kady took the card, Zelda signed, _“I believe Irene planted a listening device while she was visiting. She is a ruthless woman and she's spent the last few months rebuilding her power base after her family-”_

“ _-was executed by the slaves they'd been grinding up for magic cocaine?”_ The words were sloppy, with the card in her hand, but Zelda's expression made it clear she'd gotten the gist.

“ _-was unfortunately killed. Still, forewarned is forearmed, yes?”_ The card was blank. Kady flipped it over, but it was blank on that side too. She raised an eyebrow at Zelda, who added, “ _The card is for- for Mr. Adiyodi. When you get him back_.”

“Well, I wish you luck,” Kady said, and slid the card into her back pocket. “Let me know when you've got that addendum written out.”

 

* * *

 

“And it's go time, baby,” Kady crowed to the three of hearts, not able to hide the pulse of relief in her voice. “Appeal – done. Zelda's addendum – attached. In fucking triplicate and hand-delivered to the Underworld Library book drop by the current Head Librarian herself. So. Yeah, we've got friends in high fucking places these days. Now we just need to wait for it to work its way through the system down there. It has a magical tag on it, so I can keep track of where it is and make noise if it gets stuck somewhere along the way. I have to admit- it's hard for me to believe that Coldwater snuck through the back door while you and I are the ones taking the 'proper channels' but- but it's gonna fucking work. I can _feel_ it. Oh, and tell Ol' Scratch I put in that transfer request for him, too, if he's still with you.”

She waited.

“Penny?”

The card sat there, colorful and silent, for thirty... forty... fifty seconds. Then the color dimmed out.

She yanked out another card, did the tuts as quickly as she could.

“Penny! Talk to me, okay? Where the fuck are you? Penny!”

No response.

Another card. Another try.

Nothing.

Nothing.

_Nothing_.

“Fuck,” Kady said, with feeling.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "Things Have Changed" by Bob Dylan.


End file.
